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Recent Developments in Accessibility to Movie Theaters

By Suzanne Ilene Schiller
October 06, 2004

For the past 4 years, the subject of accessibility to movie theaters, primarily wheelchair access and captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing, has been the basis of much litigation in the federal courts. For wheelchair-bound patrons, the increasing number of theaters employing stadium-style seating spurred them to the courthouse while for the hearing impaired, it was the development of new technologies that gave impetus to their efforts. Although the plaintiffs have not always been successful, these lawsuits, as well as new Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities issued under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), are forcing theater owners to make changes to existing theaters and plan new theaters in different ways. (See related article, Proposed Revisions to the ADA's Physical Accessibility Guidelines Released, Sept. 2004 CLLS.)

Wheelchair Accessibility

On June 28, 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand two cases which held that movie theaters with stadium-style seating must provide wheelchair-bound patrons with seating options providing viewing angles comparable to those available to able-bodied patrons. In doing so, the Supreme Court perpetuated a conflict between the various federal circuit courts as to how far movie theater owners must go to accommodate disabled patrons. However, the conflict was short lived; on July 23, 2004, the new Accessibility Guidelines directly addressed and resolved the issue.

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